A professor at Syracuse University has caused outrage on social media after claiming al-Qaeda's 9/11 terror strike was an attack on "heteropatriarchal capitalistic systems" that "white Americans fight to protect."
Jenn M. Jackson, an assistant professor of political science at Syracuse University in New York, made the remarks in a series of tweets on Friday, a day before the 20th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks.
Jackson claimed that 9/11 "was an attack on the heteropatriarchal capitalistic systems that America relies upon to wrangle other countries into passivity". She proceeded to add, "It was an attack on the systems many white Americans fight to protect."
Who is Jenn Jackson?
In her website's biography, Jackson notes her pronouns as "they/them" and describes herself as a "queer genderflux androgynous Black woman, an abolitionist, a lover of all Black people, and an Assistant Professor at Syracuse University in the Department of Political Science." The professor has also penned a column for the website of Teen Vogue.
According to the website, Jackson also holds affiliate positions in African American Studies, Women's and Gender Studies, and LGBT Studies. She is also the author of the forthcoming book BLACK WOMEN TAUGHT US (Random House Press, 2022).
Jackson's Incendiary Remarks
Jackson's tweets, which have since been set to private, came as the professor remarked on how she is "really disturbed by how many white pundits and correspondents talk about" 9/11, according to the Daily Wire.
She said, "White Americans might not have really felt true fear before 9/11 because they never felt what it meant to be accessible, vulnerable, and on the receiving side of military violence at home. But white Americans' experiences are not a stand-in for "America.""
"Plenty of us Americans know what it's like to experience fear and we knew before 9/11. For a lot of us, we know fear *because* of other Americans," Jackson added.
A Wave of Backlash and Mockery on Social Media
Some netizens accused her of endorsing the deadly terror attack.
One Twitter user wrote, "20th anniversary of the murder of 2,977 Americans and Jackson decides to share this woke bullshit. If the USA is so oppressive someone should tell her about the toxic heteropatriarchal masculinity rampant within the Taliban..." Another wrote, "9/11 was an attack on heteropatriarchy!!! Thank you, Osama, the feminist."
"The language of wokeism... it uses colorful, smart & complicated sounding phrases tossed into a word salad and mixed with emotional expressions so you can't deconstruct the nonsense. Jenn Jackson is a poster child of a crazy person acting as a paid pseudo intellectual," wrote one user.
One person shared, "This is the kind of disturbing rubbish people spout when they see the world through a lens of identity politics." Another said, "@TeenVogue care to comment on a member of your team's tweets.
One user asked, "Jenn M Jackson has a history of racist and hate filled tweets. Why is she still employed at Syracuse? Another comment read, "Oh yes, the people behind 9/11 are known for their liberal views and dismantling of heteropatriarchal systems. just ask all the girls who want to go to school or drive over there."
I suggest she asks for a transfer to Kabul University or to a madrasa in Kabul to test on the ground that stupid theory or publicity stunt of hers.
— ms pendergast (@ms_pendergast) September 12, 2021
